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Should i be the one to file?

so my ex (not ex husband, the other ex, bio-dad of my oldest) has decided again that he wants to sign his rights over. i have been wanting that for years but i thought that in the state of florida the father couldn't sign his rights over unless someone else wanted to adopt her or he's deemed abusive. well now he's saying that if *i* go to court and file a petition for him to terminate his rights then we can do it. he doesnt live in florida anymore, btw, but me and my daughter do. i told him he can file the petition. why should i be the inconvenienced one that has to go down to the courthouse and do all that shit? im not getting child support btw so i have no issue with him signing over. infact it would be the best thing for all parties involved. but he's the one that suddenly got the hair up his ass to get it done, so he should be the one to file. ive already got enough on my plate with the divorce im going through.

crafty's name fits her
excellent idea!!
(and i thought her name was for art and crafts)

in my state- extremely hard to get a judge to allow any father to sign over rights unless (like you said) another man is able to step in
hope your state different
and agree, why should you pay for the paperwork, do the leg work

No you can't get your own forms and do it that way. Anything to do with parental rights requires an attorney and he has to go in front of a judge and explain himself. He can't just sever his rights because he doesn't want to be her dad anymore or pay cs. It's just not that easy. You can call an attorney here in Fl but I don't think you are going to hear what you want to hear.

Let me see if I understand this. The man owes his child $10,000 in back support and you are going to take that away from your child because you don't think he should be her dad anymore? Wow, wouldn't a lot of men who don't want to pay child support anymore like to just go sign a paper and say Thanks for the Memories but I'm out of here to enjoy life without responsibilities. That's just crazy. Make the man be responsible. Don't do crap for him. Let him make a fool out of himself in court and get a copy of the transcript when the judge tells him HE*L no I'm not cutting your ties to that child. Pay up or go to jail...btw, let him go to court being that far behind in ch sup. The judge will arrest him on the spot! lol

Answer by
Anonymous
at 12:45 AM on Mar. 12, 2013

Frankly, I think you'll be wasting your time. My ex was in jail on rape charges and every lawyer I talked to said his rights couldn't be terminated. He hasn't seen my kids in 9 1/2 years, hasn't paid child support in nearly that long and owes over $25K now, and I STILL can't get his rights terminated. Even though, according to the state statutes, he's abandoned them and that's grounds for termination, the judge insists that unless I am remarried and a current husband is willing to adopt, parental rights cannot be terminated.

Let him be the one to waste his time. And if it's successful, tell me what the hell you two did so I can make it happen for mine. I'm sick of going to court twice a year so he can not show up and then sit in jail for three months instead of paying the damn child support he owes.